Football | 9/11/2010 10:14:57 PM

Box Score [Box score]

SACRAMENTO - Despite Demario Ballard's 111 receiving yards and Western Oregon outgaining Sacramento State 266-209 through the air, WOU was dealt a 31-17 loss against the Football Championship Subdivision team (NCAA Division I-AA), Saturday, Sept. 11.

Bryan Hilliard was the driving force behind the Hornets' (1-1) offense. He gained 107 yards on the ground with two scores on 23 carries. Sac State would go on to outgain WOU 182-74 in the rushing department.

Hilliard hurt the Wolves (1-1, 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) with his legs, but it was their own mistakes which eventually came around to haunt them. WOU shot itself in the foot throughout the night by committing 17 penalties for 121 yards, which continued to put the team in long yardage situations. Meanwhile, the Hornets played an efficient game, as the flag came out against them just six times against them for 40 yards.

Zack Nash was a disruptive defensive pressence all night for Sac State. He sacked Wolves' quarterback AJ Robinson three times and recorded four of the Hornets' nine tackles-for-loss.

Caleb Singleton and Sherman Vercher both had eight stops to lead WOU. Western Oregon created opportunities for itself in the fourth quarter when Singleton and Bryce Peila picked off the Hornets' Jeff Fleming on back-to-back possessions. However, the Sac State defense refused to give ground to WOU and forced them to three-and-outs following both interceptions.

The turnovers seemed give perspective to the Hornets' offense. They got the ball back still leading 28-17 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game and put the ball in the air only one other time the remainder of the game. They rushed the ball 10 times for 59 yards on the next drive, chewing up 6:14 on the clock, and kicked a field goal to seal the game.

AJ Robinson threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for WOU on 17-of-40 passing. He found Justin Ore, for one of his three catches on the day, on a 52-yard strike at the end of the third quarter to cut Sac State's lead to 28-17, but that is as close as WOU would get. Ore finished the game with 83 yards receiving, as he and Ballard accounted for 194 of the 266 yards through the air and both touchdowns.

Western Oregon's first touchdown came early in the second quarter when Robinson found Ballard streaking down the sideline from 20 yards out. The score cut the Hornets' lead to 14-7.

After Sac State pushed its lead back to 21-7 on a touchdown pass by Hilliard, WOU marched 70 yards down the field in 10 plays to set Kelly Morgan up for a 41-yard field goal. The key play was a 37 yard pass to Ballard to open the drive which got WOU into Sac State territory.

Darryl Valdez and Kyley McCrae led the Wolves' rushing attack with 37 and 35 yards, respectively.

Kelly Morgan matched last year's total for field goals made from over 40 yards with his 41-yarder in the second quarter. He has now converted on both his field goal attempts this season, connecting from 41 and 50 yards.

The Western Oregon football team will now return to Monmouth to face Simon Fraser in its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1:00 p.m. The Wolves defeated Simon Fraser in the 2010 season opener 38-0 in Burnaby, B.C.

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